Siege of Orgrimmar and Throne of Thunder were long raids in a linear format--that format is gone. Raids are more open, with more wings. If you wanted to, you could just kill one specific boss on heroic outside of mythic raiding. Raids will give you options to skip just to a certain boss everyone needs.

Example of how skipping around will work: If you take an instance like Naxxramas, once you've cleared each wing and proven you know the bosses, you could make a crystal to teleport directly to a certain boss. This works for all difficulties (Normal, Heroic, Mythic).

Loot doesn't overlap in any way between difficulties--loot on mythic doesn't influence heroic for example. This allows for more player freedom.

There is no requirement to complete Heroic to do Mythic raiding. Mythic will open a week later than normal/heroic.

Difficulties will be unlocked in a pretty similar fashion to MoP. LFR will be at the end, and raids will not be available in the first week. There are also two raid zones, similar to the start of MoP.

As for item levels of raid gear, there will be slightly smaller gaps because item upgrades aren't planned for Warlords of Draenor. The item system is currently designed so progressing players won't be sharding all drops since they like their older items better.

As the Raiding Blog stated, LFR loot is getting some changes--no gear with set bonuses, and less-groundbreaking trinkets. There will be trinkets in LFR and they will be epic, but they won't be transformative like Unerring Vision of Lei Shen or Rune of Re-Origination.

LFR lets everyone experience raid content and for WoD, they want to focus on how LFR lets you see all of an expansion's story. In Mists, LFR was set up as part of a long-term endgame, where loot was paced accordingly and drawn out. This led to lots of frustration and slow gearing.

Loot in LFR will now feel more rewarding since you can get it faster. If you're raiding something like Heroic with an organized group, if you gear up slowly at least you have the satisfaction of seeing your friends get loot and your overall raid improve. LFR doesn't have that, so the loot process is sped up.

Since LFR will have improved droprates now, the gear had to be changed so it didn't feel like a mandatory thing for progression raiders to run. Progression raiders tend to run LFR for set bonuses and transformative trinkets, so those sorts of items were removed from LFR loot tables.

Blizzard now has two loot/content tracks in mind. For solo players, you can run normal mode dungeons to prepare you for Raid Finder. For the group track, you'd do premade groups or proving grounds for Heroic Dungeons, which have loot that prepares you for normal or steps beyond that. Both tracks should not need to intersect.

Heroic dungeon gear will be good enough so you don't feel forced to do LFR when getting ready for Normals.

Garrison followers can fetch loot for you, but this should not feel mandatory for Mythic players. (Edit: This next part is a clarification from Blizzard.) While there will be Normal quality and eventually Heroic quality items available from this system, a hardcore Mythic raider shouldn't find this gear relevant by the time it's available. There's some initial time involved in first leveling up the Garrison, similar to how crafting epics aren't available immediately due to crafting cooldowns. But for players who aren't raiding Mythic, periodically getting Normal and Heroic quality items from Garrisons provides an alternative way to get some gear that's higher than LFR quality without raiding.

Raid Finder will not be available at the start of Warlords, and epic crafting gear will require a lot of material to make over multiple days like the 5.2 crafted blacksmithing weapons.

Group Finder is designed to help LFR players who want more move into Flex. There will be a standard queueing UI and you cannot create a group with ilvl requirements beyond your own. Loot in group finder can either be personal or via raid leader.

LFR has a new art style separate from tier gear available in Normal, Heroic, and Mythic. This is part of a major art change in how Blizzard approaches PvE and PvP gear. In Mists of Pandaria, all PvE gear shared the same model but had different colors. If you saw someone in town, you only knew they raided heroics if you remembered the color tint. That was a shortcoming--so LFR will now have a different look to make more progressed raiders stand out. Click here to see 3D Models of the LFR Armor.

Art in general will change for PvE and PvP epics--it will be like Burning Crusade, where PvE and PvP gear shared the same artwork but had different colors. LFR and Honor gear will now share one artwork, but different colors. Conquest gear and higher-level raiding gear share a different style of artwork, but different colors. And Mythic and top-level PvP gear will have some additional awesome bonus art.

Valor Points have a different role in Warlords of Draenor. You will not need it to actively supplement cutting-edge progression. Item upgrades are removed and no WoD vendors that sell raid-equivalent gear are planned, like Shado-Pan Assault for MoP. Valor will be used for things like heirlooms instead--it's not totally figured out yet.

More on why item upgrades are removed--they were an interesting experiment and worked best when disabled periodically. If you replaced an item you just upgraded, you felt terrible. If you were getting new items, you always felt behind if you weren't capping Valor.

Since Valor won't be used for raid-equivalent items, there are some concerns about bad RNG. Blizzard may increase droprates a bit, but they are also working to make the bonus roll system more intelligent. A common frustration is that you want a specific item from a boss, but you get an item you already have. The bonus roll system will take items you're recently previously gotten from rolls into account.

However, since items can now come in Warforged, socketed, or tertiary stat variations--some people might want to keep getting more of the same item in the hopes of rolling the perfect set of stats. You can still see those items drop from the boss' regular loot tables or personal loot, and you will periodically see these items in bonus rolls as well. You won't see a specific item via a bonus roll only once and never again.

With the great variation in itemization now, there are more items useful to more people, so you shouldn't be in a situation where you're stuck using the same bracers for 5 months.

To get bonus rolls in Warlords, there will be a similar Seals system to MoP's Warforged Seals but methods of acquiring seals will be different. You can earn one seal at a time, instead of three in bulk. (You can still get all the seals you need on a Tuesday though). There will be randomized activities that reward one seal at a time. Your Garrison may give you a variety of quests to chose among that award a seal--clearing a dungeon, killing X orcs in Nagrand, doing something in Ashran, etc. This means that you go to your Garrison to turn in the quest for your Seal, not that you must unlock all ways to get seals through working on your Garrison (related tweet).

Dungeons--Blizzard hopes to add more dungeons mid-expansion, they realize that many players miss having this sort of content. They are worried about new dungeons obsoleting old content, so a possible solution is to add Mythic versions of WoD-launch dungeons that have loot which is equivalent to the mid-expansion dungeons.

Scenarios--There are tons of single-player scenarios while leveling for epic storytelling moments. At max level, scenarios will primarily be used for garrison invasions.

At BlizzCon, an incentive for doing group content was a buff called "Stacking the Deck" which would give players extra valor. This is currently being revamped as Valor is less useful.

Garrisons are a huge thing in Warlords and there's some concern that it's mandatory. It's not intended to be--the gear your Followers get will quickly be replaced by higher raiding levels and there are no plans to tie mandatory raid-type things into it. They are designed to have a lot of depth but are not designed to be time-consuming. Click here to check out our Warlords of Draenor Garrison Calculator.

Garrisons are not meant to feel like dailies in general--if you are tired after work, you shouldn't feel obligated to log on and work on your Garrison. You can bank quests up to a limit, so you could do things once a week rather than every day if you felt like it.

To learn more about raiding changes in Warlords of Draenor, check out Blizzard's recent raiding blog.

Comments

Comment by Gendou

Now to wait for the summary (or, preferably, a transcript) so those of us with hearing issues can enjoy it.

Comment by TutorialBlox

on Sat, 03 May 2014 11:56:57 -0500

Would be very nice to get a transcript, certain people have hearing issues in my family.

Comment by Netherspark

on Sat, 03 May 2014 12:07:15 -0500

%^&* me, it's an hour long!

Comment by blupache

on Sat, 03 May 2014 12:23:58 -0500

Sweeeet, been looking forward to this... but now I need to go off & do other things.

If only there was a MP3 audio-only version so that I could quickly & conveniently flick it over to my iPod.

Hint hint.

Comment by perculia

on Sat, 03 May 2014 12:28:57 -0500

We're working on a transcript, Olivia is moving today so there will be a slight delay. I'm writing up a tldr summary right now of the highlights.

Also--Blizzard seems to be favoring video interviews over purely text-based ones now. This gives the impression that our transcripts are slower, but in reality, we're able to post the interviews a day earlier instead of have to wait on the transcript.

Comment by DanJack

on Sat, 03 May 2014 13:18:08 -0500

Great video and Q and A questions.

Comment by Brainst0rm

on Sat, 03 May 2014 13:20:17 -0500

Awesome interview: great questions, great answers. Very impressed. All my love to Olivia and Ion (who I now ship, btw).

Comment by InfernoGuy

Comment by trest

on Sat, 03 May 2014 14:00:52 -0500

For those of us running systems without Flash installed, I would like to request that posts like this also include a link to watch the video on YouTube, please (since YouTube supports HTML 5 video playback without Flash now).

Comment by Strafer

Comment by Gendou

We're working on a transcript, Olivia is moving today so there will be a slight delay. I'm writing up a tldr summary right now of the highlights.

Thank you for taking the time to summarize the interview for us.

Comment by sorensen85

on Sat, 03 May 2014 16:07:20 -0500

I just saw that LFR gear is a "more epic" version of heroic dungeon gear. I loved how they did that with pvp gear in Wrath and BC, can;t wait to see what they do with PvE gear in WoD :)

Comment by Kassane

on Sat, 03 May 2014 16:26:17 -0500

cant wait

Comment by Atos

on Sat, 03 May 2014 16:29:27 -0500

The thing that was missing was alts, all the talk was centered into I have one character and what it's happening to it. And most of the stuff I've heard here and elsewhere is making me very worried about alts, as someone with 11 90s of all classes stuff like no tier in lfr and fairly ugly to boot, sucks. Right now I can do lfr's on the ones that are not raiding for real (even not doing flex) and so lfr on them and get them at least looking good because I can't do flex/normals on all of them and in WoD seems to be that it's forced. And the Garrisons seems to be all they talk about but seems more and more like they are a must for all the chars. Even now the farm I can't get myself to do it for my last 2 90s and that is easy and fast to do. :(

Either way good interview miss Grace.

Comment by Azrile

on Sat, 03 May 2014 16:56:22 -0500

The thing that was missing was alts, all the talk was centered into I have one character and what it's happening to it. And most of the stuff I've heard here and elsewhere is making me very worried about alts, as someone with 11 90s of all classes stuff like no tier in lfr and fairly ugly to boot, sucks. Right now I can do lfr's on the ones that are not raiding for real (even not doing flex) and so lfr on them and get them at least looking good because I can't do flex/normals on all of them and in WoD seems to be that it's forced. And the Garrisons seems to be all they talk about but seems more and more like they are a must for all the chars. Even now the farm I can't get myself to do it for my last 2 90s and that is easy and fast to do. :(

Either way good interview miss Grace.

if they are just alts, why do you need tier sets? Almost all tier sets do things that don´t really help you much during questing or open-world activites. Also, appearance is subjective. I think some of the LFR sets look better than the tier sets. I am the same as you, I have 11-90s and probably half will transmorg and half will use the LFR version.

Garrisons is the huge feature of WoD, of course they want to talk about it. I am not sure why you would feel forced to do them on alts. Even stuff like the farm.. sure you can get mats from it, but if you have 11-90s, then you have the gathering profs to get the same mats much easier from nodes.

And really, this interview has me a bit excited about alts..I love the idea of followers and garrisons, so having my 9 ´never played´ alts being able to get LFR gear with garrisons instead of actually runnng LFR is awesome. I would much rather log in, send my followers on missions rather than queue for LFR as 7 different dps specs..

Comment by Atos

on Sat, 03 May 2014 17:16:47 -0500

if they are just alts, why do you need tier sets? Almost all tier sets do things that don´t really help you much during questing or open-world activites. Also, appearance is subjective. I think some of the LFR sets look better than the tier sets. I am the same as you, I have 11-90s and probably half will transmorg and half will use the LFR version.

Garrisons is the huge feature of WoD, of course they want to talk about it. I am not sure why you would feel forced to do them on alts. Even stuff like the farm.. sure you can get mats from it, but if you have 11-90s, then you have the gathering profs to get the same mats much easier from nodes.

And really, this interview has me a bit excited about alts..I love the idea of followers and garrisons, so having my 9 ´never played´ alts being able to get LFR gear with garrisons instead of actually runnng LFR is awesome. I would much rather log in, send my followers on missions rather than queue for LFR as 7 different dps specs..

Well why have alts without gear? just to level them up? And tiers for the same reason people keep doing old raids and dungeons for transmog. Also tiers add set bonuses that help with leveling in the next expansion (even if just for a little bit).

I don't mind them talking about garrisons, I mind that I've yet to hear/read anything about how they are going to work for alts, if they will have any way to help alts with the whole thing. Hey if they say that Garrisons are account wide or even realm wide that would make happier and more excited about them. And alts have nothing to do with followers. And I already do play LFR currently with the ones that are not in flex/normal/heroic raiding, but at least now I can look forward to set looks+bonuses. the lfr look datamined so far is terrible compared to the few tier sets datamined for WoD.

Comment by Owl72

on Sat, 03 May 2014 17:47:48 -0500

Awesome video talking about everthing in detail. Olivia was doing a great job asking all the right questions. This video made me very excited for WoD. I can't wait to progress in the new system and create and defend my Garrison! Kudos to the Wowhead staff for sharing this video and thanks to Hazzikostas to answer everything in such great detail. Don't listen to the haters, I think this video shows you guys really love the game and know exactly what's the right thing to do.

Comment by forgottenring

on Sat, 03 May 2014 19:40:07 -0500

I'm glad Blizzard is reducing the importance of LFR in the gearing equation. I hear a lot of players say that LFR is their endgame (and it still can be), but it sounds like running heroic dungeons and then stepping into premade normal (current flex) raid groups will be far better than waiting for 45 mins in queue for LFR. LFR has just gotten to toxic and auto pilot lately it's good the option is there to totally skip it if someone wants to.

As for valor points, they should just remove them and keep justice points for heirlooms and old gear. The system is already there so they'd literally have to change nothing, but make everything cost JP. If Blizzard is removing all the things that needed VP currently, then VPs should just go too. Blizzard is just over-thinking this, they don't need two currencies like PvP. I don't think PvP needs two point systems either, but Blizzard seems hell bent on trying to tier PvP like PvE.

About the only nonplus thing about the changes is the removal of item upgrades. It would've worked better with the more random stats loot in WoD. If you get an optimal piece it'd be nice to upgrade it and keep a little longer if bad luck still strikes with less than optimal stats. I guess with the removal of reforging and valor gear, I should've seen upgrades going too. Again, VP should just be removed unless Blizzard can come up with something useful to use it on besides heirlooms.

Comment by Wombat62

on Sat, 03 May 2014 21:14:18 -0500

if they are just alts, why do you need tier sets? Almost all tier sets do things that don´t really help you much during questing or open-world activites. Also, appearance is subjective. I think some of the LFR sets look better than the tier sets. I am the same as you, I have 11-90s and probably half will transmorg and half will use the LFR version.

Garrisons is the huge feature of WoD, of course they want to talk about it. I am not sure why you would feel forced to do them on alts. Even stuff like the farm.. sure you can get mats from it, but if you have 11-90s, then you have the gathering profs to get the same mats much easier from nodes.

And really, this interview has me a bit excited about alts..I love the idea of followers and garrisons, so having my 9 ´never played´ alts being able to get LFR gear with garrisons instead of actually runnng LFR is awesome. I would much rather log in, send my followers on missions rather than queue for LFR as 7 different dps specs..

Well why have alts without gear? just to level them up? And tiers for the same reason people keep doing old raids and dungeons for transmog. Also tiers add set bonuses that help with leveling in the next expansion (even if just for a little bit).

.

don't really understand this . If your not raiding current content with alts then tier gear is not needed in fact I often take it off in dungeons and lower level raids ,especially when doing achievements.

Most people I know have alts for two reasons , they have one or two who are there to cover for missing people in raids ( say a healer or tank alt if their main is dps) or like me as Tradies. My alts exist because 1) I like levelling and 2) they cover all professions . My alts arnt geared at all

Comment by PragmaticSoul

on Sat, 03 May 2014 22:28:08 -0500

Based on the short summary, I have hopes that crafting and the garrisons will give me the "gear progression through solo play" that I want...